


The New Kid

by bunnyfication



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-05
Updated: 2009-10-05
Packaged: 2017-10-25 00:30:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/269639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnyfication/pseuds/bunnyfication
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finland isn't sure who he is, so he asks his elders.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Kid

**Author's Note:**

> Some relevant links (in English): [About the old stereotypes](http://www.uta.fi/~ik69939/tribes.html). [And the Historical provinces by Wikipedia.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_provinces_of_Finland)  
> Historical Finnish Province-tans' characterizations are partially inspired by Zacharias Topelius's Maamme kirja, which was published in **1875** and partially on my own personal stereotypes. I'm aware **stereotypes =/= reality**. I hope I don't cause too much insult to anyone, and am very sorry if I do. It certainly isn't my intention. *bow*  
>  Now, I realize a few people are missing...pretend Åland ~~wasn't born yet~~ was sulking, and Nyland had just had a fight with Satakunta and was ignoring her existence...or something. OTL  
> 

Once upon a time, there was a boy who didn't know who he was. He was not quite a child anymore, but he had been away from home since early age, and now that he was back, not even by his own choice, he didn't know what to do.

Perhaps it made him feel like a child, the way he hardly understood the language spoken to him, and how helpless he was in his old home.

One day, he sat down on the stairs, and cried a bit; because he missed the place he'd been before, the place that he couldn't call home anymore.

"What's wrong?" A voice asked suddenly, in a language achingly familiar in this foreign place, and the boy raised his head hopefully.

But it was not his quiet, awkward friend from that other place. This was a tall, thin man, built like a graceful beanpole, clothed in the latest fashion. Bright blue eyes, and pale blond hair combed neatly but still with a bit of artistic flair. His eyes were kind and happy and curious as he leaned down towards the boy.

"I-I do not know who I am...sir?" The boy said, wiping his eyes and nose on his sleeve.

The man cringed slightly and shook his head, taking out a white handkerchief and handing it to the boy.

"No no, none of that "sir" business. If anything it should be the other way...but never mind that. And don't worry about the handkerchief either, it's a gift."

The man dusted off the stair and sat down primly, taking out a blade of grass and chewing on it absentmindedly. They sat in companiable silence for a while, and then the older man coughed.

"So, you don't know who you are, is that it?"

The boy nodded. The man took out a large book, scrolled through it for a moment, and when he found what he was looking for he showed it to the boy.

"I do believe you're Finland. See, says so right here," he said, beaming proudly.

"Oh," Finland said, and thought about this. "But what does _that_ mean?"

The man scrolled through the book, his brow clouding.

"It doesn't say...how odd. Hm, why don't we go ask some other people then? I think there are some who've lived here before I did. They ought to know."

So they went.

*

"What's _your_ name then?" Finland asked as the walked.

His companion grinned in reply.

"Nyland," he said cheerfully, holding out a hand for Finland to shake.

As they walked along, they met a man tarring a fishing boat. Well, in fact they saw the boat first, and only when they were right next to it, did a face rise up from behind it, like a disgruntled sun.

The man had specks of tar in his coarse sandy brown hair, which was sticking up rather like the spikes of a hedgehog.

"Don't worry, that guy is a bit grouchy but...well, his bark is worse than his bite, so to say" Nyland whispered to Finland, having noticed his worried expression.

"My dear neighbour!" he called out to the other man, who merely grunted in response. "Finland, meet...Finland. Huh, forgot you have the same name, haha."

The elder Finland glared at the younger, who just barely resisted the urge to hide behind Mr. Nyland.

"Y-you could be called Finland Proper, o-or...anything you'd like," he stuttered instead.

The other gave him a long and rather pointy look, and then shrugged.

"Whatever. Have work to do now."

"Ok, bye!" Finland made to walk away, but Nyland got hold of his sleeve first.

"Wait a minute. Say, Finland...I mean Finland Proper, have any advice for the new guy here?"

Finland Proper sighed and lowered his tar brush again. He thought for a moment, brows drawn together. Then he looked straight at Finland.

"You gotta have respect for the place you live in. Even if it's not perfect, it's the best you have, so no one else can have it. Get that? And now you two can scram and let me do my job."

"Yes yes...that seems like very good tar by the way, you'll have to tell me where you bought it later."

"Hn."

It was difficult to say whether it was a yes or a no, but Nyland seemed to have it figured out, because he nodded happily. As they went on, he talked about fishing, and boats. He glanced shrewdly at Finland's dubious expression, and snickered behind one hand.

"Why are looking at me like that for? I know, bet you were thinking I've never worked a day in my life. Well, that just shows how much you know!"

*

They left the shoreline behind, and found fields. Soon they met a man trying to move a stone with a large lever, seemingly very concentrated in his task.

"Tavast! I have someone to see you here."

The man turned to look at them, his face serious, but his greyish blue eyes were kind.

"What is it?" the man asked patiently.

"This is young Finland here, and he's wondering who he is."

"Oh." The man blinked at them, brushing his hair away from his sweaty forehead slightly self-consciously. "Dunno if I know stuff like that, I'm just a farmer myself..."

He smiled at Finland just a little, and shrugged apologetically.

"Well, thank you in any case, Tavast." Nyland said and went on, clearly a bit disappointed.

Finland hung back a step.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"This'll be a new field, so I have to clear away all these stones."

Finland looked at the field, littered with big and small stones.

"Isn't it a lot of work?"

Tavast shrugged again.

"Sure it is, but someone's gotta do it. And there ain't no shame in working, you know. More...it's a good thing to do, I think."

"Come on Finland, there's ways to go yet!" Nyland called out to him from ahead.

"Well, I have to go Mr.Tavast, thank you for the advice."

"Nothing to it. Oh, and just call me Häme, will you?"

"Ok. See you!"

Then Finland had to run after Nyland. When he looked back, Häme had gone back to work in moving the stone, one inch at a time.

*

They came to a house next. Someone was standing next to it on a high ladder, washing the second story windows. A light wind was making her skirts billow as she scrubbed lazily.

"Oy, Savolax, watch out a little, your...your underthings are showing."

The girl on the ladder looked down at them. Her face was round and benignly simpleminded.

She said something, and Nyland frowned.

"Excuse me?"

Savolax sighed, and repeated in carefully, if slightly incorrectly, enunciated Swedish.

"I can take them off too if you'd prefer?"

Nyland went very red.

"N-no, of course not! Please don't!" he sputtered.

"Whatever you say." Savolax agreed. Then she seemed to notice Finland. "Who's the lad?" she asked.

"This is Finland." Nyland introduced him.

"Eh? Isn't he a tad older...and more grumpy?"

"No, this is another one...he was living abroad, you know." Nyland explained.

Savolax's face brightened suddenly and her mouth formed an o of understanding. She descended down the ladder and beamed at Finland, saying something in strangely... elongated Finnish? He was pretty sure it meant "welcome home", so he smiled.

Savolax seemed to realize he didn't understand all of it, because she shook her head.

"You don't understand your big sister Savo anymore, is that it? Poor thing...what sort of Finnish have you been teaching him anyways, Nyland?"

Nyland huffed.

"Regular Finnish that makes some sense, that's all."

Finland got the feeling this was an old argument, mostly from the general lack of malice. This close, he began to realize that Savo's moony face might be something of a decoy, judging from the spark of sharp intelligence he could see in her eyes.

He wasn't so sure Nyland noticed that though...he caught Savo's eye, and she nodded her head towards Nyland and winked.

Ah, apparently not. Poor Nyland.

"So, we're doing a bit of a tour, since Finland is uncertain of who he is." Nyland said at last.

Savolax shook her head again, looking amused.

"It's all that living abroad that does it to you," she noted. "But I wouldn't worry overmuch. You're you, there ain't anything more complicated in it than that. Methinks you're just over thinking things, if it's bothering you."

Finland nodded uncertainly.

"I...guess so. Thanks."

"No problem. Oh, before you go, let me just get something..."

She went inside, and came back with something wrapped in a cloth. When she gave it to Finland, he could feel that it was warm, and the smell wafting out from it made his mouth water.

"It's kalakukko, should put some meat on your bones."

Finland peered inside, and found something that looked like a roundish loaf of rye bread, but...

"What's in it?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, it's vendace and side of pork wrapped in rye dough. Best food you'll ever find, believe me in this. Even better if you put on some of the butter I packed in there too." Savo explained cheerfully

Finland and Nyland ate it later, and Finland had to concede it was very tasty.

*

"Who are we going to meet yet?" Finland asked afterwards, still licking traces of butter off his fingers.

Nyland shrugged.

"Well, if we keep walking east, we should meet Karelia eventually, and then...well, we might make a detour north but..."

He was stopped by a yell from somewhere behind them. Finland turned to look, and could see a horse drawn carriage, fast drawing nearer. As it caught up to them, the driver pulled it to a stop, the stamping and rearing horse exacerbating the dust cloud the carriage had brought with it. Finland coughed as the dust tickled his throat.

"Well, if it isn't Österbotten..." Nyland said in a resigned tone.

The man on the carriage smirked.

"The one and only. Where're you going?"

"To see Karelia."

"Hmph. Well, I suppose I could give you a lift there, since I'm just driving around anyways."

"Uh...if you promise to slow down a little?"

"Pffft, that wasn't even fast back there...but step on, step on."

He still drove fast enough that Finland clutched the side of the carriage hard; fearing a bump on the road might toss him into the air and off the carriage entirely.

Ostrobothnia laughed when Nyland explained Finland's problem.

"Dunno about that, sounds like useless waffling to me. But you have to visit at my place sometime, so I can take you to a proper party. I think someone in the neighbourhood is getting married, and I _also_ heard some of the tough boys were planning on crashing it. Just be careful when the knives come out; at least before you learn how to use one yourself."

Finland listened wide-eyed, his gaze drawn to the long knife hanging from Ostrobothnia's belt.

"I'm not sure he'll want to go to any parties like that." Nyland mumbled, but Ostrobothia just gave him a dismissive look.

"It ain't a good party unless someone ends up dead." he said and smiled crookedly.

"Is that why you're here as well?" Nyland asked drily, and Ostrobothnia shrugged.

"Naaw, the guy was alive the last I saw him. Dared to claim I ran into HIS carriage and broke it...it ain't my fault if his was made shoddily. And then insulted my house too, saying it looked like a poor man's old cottage...hah! You've _seen_ my house, and it's definitely not lacking anything, is it?"

"No, I don't think so. I think you could fit ten families in there and have space left, actually..."

"Exactly!"

*

Ostrobothia left them at Karelia's house, and sped his carriage away. Nyland shook his head after it.

"Promise me you won't grow up like that, will you?" he said.

"N-no, of course not," Finland said, but secretly he was rather curious to see one of those parties Ostrobothnia had been talking about. They sounded...exciting. Maybe.

"Nyland?"

They turned towards a young woman who'd appeared behind them. She was smiling in a welcoming way, cheeks dimpling.

"Did you come to hear me sing again?" she asked, tilting her head. Finland knew this had to be Karelia, from how Nyland had described her.

There was something a bit mysterious in her smile, and in the way her dark eyes sparkled. Nyland was blushing.

"N-no, although...I'm sure Finland here would love to hear it. Or maybe one of your stories? He's been living abroad and has just come back, you see."

Karelia laughed and tossed her head. Her hair didn't budge, her dark brown braids pinned securely into a crown by a bright ribbon.

Karelia seemed like a very happy person, and she invited them into her house and fussed in a cheerful manner, insisting they try some of her cooking as well.

Eventually, once Finland was definitely full, and getting a bit sleepy in the warmth of the house, Karelia sat down and sang to them.

Finland couldn't understand all of the words, but there was such profound sorrow in the song, tears welled up in his eyes. It was strange that someone who enjoyed life as much as Karelia could sing like that. And yet...the sadness was achingly beautiful, somehow.

When the song ended, Karelia just looked at him, smiling ruefully. Finland might have felt self-conscious over his tears, except she was crying too.

When they stepped outside, Finland realized Nyland was sniffing a bit too.

"She sings very beautifully, doesn't she?" he said when he noticed Finland looking.

"Yes," Finland agreed.

Nyland sighed. After a while a spoke again.

"So, did you find out anything? Feeling clearer about who you are?"

Finland shrugged.

"Maybe...I'll have to think about it," he mused.

"Well, you have all the time in the world..."

*

 **Omake** :

Later, on another day, Finland went on a walk by himself. He walked North, passing by Ostrobothia's house, and continued on, curious to see what was there. Gradually the hills got bigger, and trees smaller, until there was nothing but scraggly, bush like birch. It grew close to the ground as if clinging to it for safety.

Shivering in the cold wind, Finland didn't wonder at that.

From where he was standing, he could see far ahead. The landscape was beautiful, in a majestic, lonely way.

A reindeer wandered by him, paying him no mind except for a disinterested glance. Finland waited, not quite sure _what_ he was waiting for.

"What are you doing here?" a female voice asked eventually.

She was short and dark, with her arms crossed. Serious and a bit suspicious, if not necessarily hostile.

"I'm...just trying to find myself," Finland told her, and blushed at her dubious expression. The girl considered this, and eventually seemed to reach a conclusion.

"Well, I suppose I could give you a few pointers. I _was_ here long before any of your relatives showed up and took up all the space, you know."

She looked over the landscape, smiling faintly.

"Guess it was too cold here for them. But the view ain't bad, eh? And there's plenty of room, at least," she noted with a sniff.

She looked him straight in the eyes then, and Finland was startled at how...old they seemed.

"When did you come here then? Oh, and...what's your name?"

She shrugged.

"Well, you could call me Sápmi, if you'd like. But come now, if we're going to go look around, you need some proper clothes first."

*


End file.
